Homemade Pizza Sauce

Description:

This recipe for garden-fresh pizza sauce makes a batch large enough to top several pizzas. You can make it right now with fresh tomatoes, but if you have a bumper crop or just want to buy a lot of in-season tomatoes and put them up for another day, canning is not your only option: try freezing them. Just remove the cores and freeze them whole. Then, turn your frozen tomatoes into pizza sauce any time of the year.

Ingredients:

5 pounds cored whole tomatoes, fresh or frozen

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 teaspoon dried basil, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh

3/4 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1-2 teaspoons sugar, (optional)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Preparation:

1

If using fresh tomatoes, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Make a small X in the bottom of each tomato and plunge into the boiling water until the skins are slightly loosened, 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of ice water for 1 minute. Peel with a paring knife, starting at the X. If using frozen tomatoes, run each under warm water and peel or rub the skin off. Thaw in the refrigerator or defrost in the microwave until mostly thawed. Chop the tomatoes, reserving any juice.

2

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until beginning to brown, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes (and any juice), basil, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper and sugar (if using). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook until thickened to the consistency of pizza sauce, about 2 hours. Taste and season with additional salt, pepper and/or sugar.

3

Transfer the sauce to a blender, add tomato paste and blend until smooth. (Use caution when pureeing hot liquids.)